Chicago Decline Continues; 6-Year-Old Commits Armed Robbery

If there could still possibly be any doubt that Chicago’s strict gun controls aren’t helping to reduce crime, the latest news out of the Windy City should put that to rest.

A warning from Chicago police to near South Side residents alerted them to a recent string of robberies. The perpetrators included a 6-year-old armed with a silver handgun, reported NBC Chicago. The boy, described as anywhere from 6-8 years old, is part of a gang of robbers who have struck nearly a dozen times.

That news led off another grim weekend in Chicago that saw two people killed and at least 38 injured in shootings. This brings the yearly totals to 327 dead and 1,896 wounded, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Until city leaders work to tackle the city’s crime problem—which is rooted in a handful of inner-city neighborhoods—that 6-year-old could very well represent a looking glass into the future.

John Lott Debunks New RTC “Study”

A new, widely published study that claims to prove that Right-to-Carry laws increase violent crime is nothing but smoke and mirrors, according to researcher and author John Lott.

Writing at Foxnews.com, Lott said lead author John Donohue’s claims go against existing national research. “This new study picks out just two to four states, and in many cases effectively just uses Hawaii to compare with right-to-carry states,” said Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Institute. “In the cases of Idaho and Minnesota, over 96 percent of the comparison is just with Hawaii. For Mississippi, Nebraska, and Utah, Hawaii counts for between 72 percent and 83 percent of the comparison.”

Lott said the “study” also contains numerous other faults. “The study claims that police simply ‘underestimate criminality by permit holders,’” Lott said. “But Donohue's only evidence is two news stories from 2000 and 2007 where permit holders committed crimes. For these results to be plausible, Michigan police departments would have to be missing 99.4 percent of cases where permit holders have committed violent crimes.”

Look for a full feature on this bogus study—and the fake news resulting from it—coming soon at A1F Daily.

Anti-gun politicians in the District of Columbia have been vocally opposed to new legislation aimed at overriding the local gun laws. Mayor Muriel Bowser has spoken out in defense of the district’s ban on concealed carry, but (non-voting) Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton took a most stridently anti-gun line.

Asked by The Daily Caller whether residents of high-crime neighborhoods might want the option to carry concealed firearms, Rep. Norton went a bit berserk: “The city has taken the position that the best way to defend yourself is not to be armed. So, your notion … is quite an insult to the wards that have greater crime. They have not come forward to me and say, ‘Congresswoman, we want to conceal and carry.’”

The best way to defend yourself is not to be armed? That position seems … creative. We’re curious how these residents whom Norton is so keen to speak for actually feel about being deprived of their right to self-defense.

Victim Surprises Armed Robber In Missouri

On Saturday night, not far from the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, a man attempted an armed robbery. But the robbery victim stopped him cold by pulling his own gun and firing.

Columbia police tell ABC-17 that they responded to a report of gunfire at around 11:30 p.m. At the scene, investigators found the 27-year-old male victim, who said a man walked up to him, pulled a handgun and demanded all his belongings. The victim said he then pulled his own gun and got off several shots, causing the suspect to return fire while he fled.

The victim was unharmed, and it appeared the suspect was also not hit during the exchange. The robber was described as a black man wearing all black clothes and with part of his face covered. Police ask anyone with information to make an anonymous call to CrimeStoppers at 573-875-TIPS.